Interesting read:
teledotcom.com
Some excerpts -
The reseller route fills a major sales and marketing gap for
GMPCS operators, which are focused mainly on the
technological aspects of getting their satellite networks up and
running, says Tony Navarro, executive vice president of
Globalstar L.P. (San Jose, Calif.), which hopes to have its
GMPCS network in operation next year. Service providers
that are teaming up with Globalstar are responsible for setting
up ground stations and gateways and for operating the
required terrestrial switching systems, Navarro says, leaving
Globalstar's parent companies, Loral Space and
Communications Ltd. (New York) and Qualcomm, to build
and run the space segment portion of the network. "The
service providers are doing the things they know best, and
we're doing what we know best," Navarro says.
AirTouch Satellite Service Inc. (Walnut Creek, Calif.), an
equity partner in Globalstar, sees GMPCS as a natural
extension to its cellular offering. AirTouch invested $40 million
in Globalstar in 1994, and it has exclusive distribution rights in
countries that include the United States, Canada, Mexico, and
Japan. In addition to investing in the gateways in the countries
it will serve, AirTouch will bear the cost of distributing the
service to subscribers. AirTouch will handle billing and
customer care for the portion of the network it operates.
AirTouch isn't saying how it will market Globalstar, but the
company expects early adopters of GMPCS to come from the
same basic group that gave cellular service its start: business
executives with plenty of money. "You can't look at Globalstar
as being a typical tool for the mass consumer," says Karen
Gilligan, director of marketing at AirTouch Satellite Service. |
